"Fred Ellis" wrote in message
...
Bill in Schenectady wrote:

I just returned to my upstate New York home from a cross country vacation
by
rail. I'll have other posts in various newsgroups about aspects of the
trip. But I wanted to comment about this incident.

We were on the Lake Shore Limited, traveling from Chicago to Schenectady
(the train goes on to New York City) when, just after the Buffalo stop,
the
train stopped and two uniformed immigration patrol officers boarded and
walked through the coach class cars asking each person if he or she is an
American citizen. They did not ask for papers or identification. I
heard
that they did take someone off the train from another car.

I spoke to the conductor about this since it further delayed a train that
was already running 45 minutes late. The conductor said that it doesn't
happen for every train, but it happens frequently. He also mentioned
that
the officers do not go through the first class sleeper cars.

Legally, I don't think traveling by Amtrak is any different than driving
on
highways. You don't see roadblocks on the nation's interstates (except
for
some poorly thought out ones on the interstates leading from Canada and,
presumably, from Mexico). This train never crossed a border. And the
officers did not bother with the presumably wealthier sleeper passengers.

(Snipped)

--
Bill in Schenectady

You must not have travel on any of the interstate highways or US Routes
in the southwest part of the country. The Border Patrol has numerous
elaborate check points that are manned 24/7. If you are east bound on
IH 10 from El Paso, there is permanent check point station near Sierra
Blanca that you have to go through. I have been through at least a half
dozen or more of these permanent facilities while traveling through the
southwestern part of the country.


Fred Ellis
--

I do frequently travel on I-87 in northern New York's Adirondack Mountains.
For a while there was a permanent road block about 50 miles south of the
Canadian border...on a blind curve in a very rural area. After a semi
plowed into a stopped car, killing several, local uproar over this stop
forced the feds to shut it down at least some of the time. I'm going up
that way tomorrow so I'll see if they have reopened it.

I still think it's dumb. Protect the borders at the borders.